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Beyond Equestria: Pinkie Pie Steps Up
My Little Pony: Beyond Equestria: Pinkie Pie Steps Up by G. M. Berrow is the thirty-third book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company and the third entry in the "Beyond Equestria" series. In this book, Pinkie Pie helps Songbird Serenade with her performance at the Glammy Awards, and the two get swept up in a mystery that could endanger the whole event. Summary The Pony Popstravaganza The story begins with Pinkie Pie traveling to Manehattan after recently receiving an offer for a job from Cheese Sandwich. At a small pizzeria, she notices Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon sharing a nearby table. When Cheese Sandwich arrives, he tells Pinkie that he is in charge of planning the "Pony Popstravaganza", a big Manehattan party to celebrate the nominees of the Glammy Awards, and that the event takes place on the very next day. Excited by the opportunity, Pinkie Pie happily agrees to help. After a whole day of party planning, the Popstravaganza begins at the Foal Seasons Hotel, and the Glammy Award nominees and others start to arrive, including Sapphire Shores, Feather Bangs, Songbird Serenade and her personal assistant Crownpiece, Countess Coloratura, and Rarity. However, the party guests mainly stand around criticizing the decorations, causing Cheese to worry. In an effort to liven things up, Pinkie tells the band to play upbeat music, and she encourages everyone to start dancing. She also runs into Lyra and Bon Bon again, and the three dance together. Songbird Serenade notices Pinkie Pie's hyperactive dancing and tells her assistant Crownpiece to bring her over. With Rarity's help, Crownpiece arranges a meeting between Songbird and Pinkie, and Songbird asks Pinkie to perform with her during her performance at the Glammy Awards. Pinkie is hesitant about the offer, but Rarity encourages her to accept. Trouble at rehearsals At Manehattan's Stables Center, Pinkie Pie arrives for rehearsal with the other Glammy nominees. While she meets with Crownpiece, Lyra and Bon Bon end up being signed on as her backup dancers. Jazz Hoof, the award show's host and director, almost throws Pinkie out of the closed rehearsal, but Songbird speaks out and says Pinkie is her new co-performer. Her sudden decision confuses the other nominees and upsets the tightly-wound Jazz Hoof, but Songbird is firm in her choice. As Pinkie, Lyra, and Bon Bon get into wardrobe for their rehearsal with Songbird, Pinkie confronts her "backup dancers". After their encounters at the pizzeria and the Pony Popstravaganza, Pinkie believes they are following her everywhere. After some pressuring, Lyra and Bon Bon are about to explain, but they suddenly hear a scream behind a backstage curtain. Ritzy Rose, one of the Glammy nominees, runs out and says her stage sets for the award ceremony has been ruined. The other ponies investigate and discover that all of the nominees' stage sets have been tampered with—except for Countess Coloratura's. The nominees start blaming Coloratura for sabotaging the sets, but Jazz Hoof calms everyone down and says there's time to fix the sets before the award show. The Pondora Box mystery After rehearsals end for the day, Pinkie Pie notices Lyra and Bon Bon whispering in secrecy. Since the three never finished their earlier conversation, Pinkie decides to join them for dinner. At a Manehattan restaurant, she asks them if they had anything to do with the sabotaged sets. Before Lyra and Bon Bon can defend themselves, Crownpiece arrives with evidence pointing to their involvement: strands of Lyra's hair tangled in one of Ritzy Rose's set pieces. Because of this, Crownpiece dismisses Lyra and Bon Bon from the performance and bans them from future rehearsals. With no other option, Lyra and Bon Bon tell Pinkie the truth about why they've been following her for the past couple of days. They are secret agents of S.M.I.L.E.—the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria—and they have been tracking a stolen object called the "Pondora Box" that has a magical monster trapped inside. After tracking the Box to the Stables Center, they infiltrated the Glammy Award rehearsals to retrieve it. But now that they have been banned from the show, they ask Pinkie to take over the investigation before the show is ruined. Pinkie Pie goes to Songbird Serenade's room at the Foal Seasons Hotel and explains what's happening. Once Songbird realizes what's at stake, she agrees to help Pinkie with the investigation. All signs point to Rara Over the course of the next several days, Pinkie Pie and Songbird Serenade use their spare time from rehearsing to investigate the missing Pondora Box. Jazz Hoof starts pushing the performing nominees harder and harder, and Pinkie overhears some of them saying Jazz Hoof is going to be fired from his position as show director after this year. She also hears Ritzy Rose say "out of the box", leading her to believe she might have the Pondora Box. After Songbird talks with Crownpiece about the show's ballot boxes, she convenes with Pinkie to discuss her investigative findings. Their main suspects in the case are Jazz Hoof, who is upset about losing his job soon, and Ritzy Rose, who is bitter toward Coloratura for winning almost every award at last year's Glammys. Pinkie goes to see what she can find in Ritzy's belongings while Songbird keeps her eye on Jazz Hoof. While following Jazz Hoof to the stage, Songbird hears fabric being ripped in the costume room. When she goes to check it out, she discovers everyone's performance costumes—except Coloratura's—torn to shreds and covered in Coloratura's signature "hoofsies" stamp. Glitz, glam, and golems With the help of Rarity, Charity Sweetmint, and Coco Pommel, the performers' costumes are salvaged. The night of the Glammy Awards finally arrives, but Pinkie and Songbird are no closer to finding the Pondora Box or figuring out who wants to ruin the award show. Cheese Sandwich arrives at the show, having been sent an invitation from Coloratura at Pinkie's request, but Pinkie says she never asked Coloratura to invite him. As the show's ballot boxes are carried backstage, Pinkie and Songbird realize that the boxes all resemble the Pondora Box. Songbird follows the ballot boxes to where they are stored and tries to figure out which one is the Pondora Box. However, before she can, Crownpiece appears and says it's time for her and Pinkie to go onstage. While on stage dancing to Songbird Serenade's award-nominated song, Pinkie Pie notices Crownpiece in the audience carrying one of the boxes and looking suspicious. She dives off the stage and tries to seize the box from Crownpiece, but Crownpiece resists. She claims that the box holds the name of the winner for "Pop Pony of the Year", but Pinkie doesn't believe her. Realizing she's been caught, Crownpiece unlocks the box's intricate lock and opens it to release a Glitter Golem, a giant creature with a body made of glitter particles. Lyra and Bon Bon, wearing disguises, appear and explain that the monster has to be calmed down so it can be captured again. From the stage, Songbird Serenade sings a lullaby that calms the golem to a motionless state, allowing it to be recaptured. Case closed With the danger now passed, Pinkie Pie reveals that Crownpiece is the one who tried to ruin the Glammy Awards. She was the only one with full access of the Stables Center, the only one involved in all of the show's planning, and the only one sneaky enough to steal the Pondora Box and place it among the ballots. Pinkie explains that all of the sabotage was deliberately set up to incriminate Coloratura. She also reveals that Crownpiece is the sister of Coloratura's former manager Svengallop, as he is the only pony other than Coloratura with access to one of her "hoofsies" stamps. Backed into a corner, Crownpiece confesses to everything that Pinkie accuses her of, and Svengallop himself appears and reveals he orchestrated everything in order to get revenge on Coloratura for firing him. Crownpiece apologizes for the role she played in her brother's scheme, and much to her surprise, Songbird Serenade forgives her and allows her to stay on as her personal assistant. With the case finally closed, the Glammy Awards continues without any more incidents, and during the award announcements, Songbird Serenade wins the award for "Pop Pony of the Year". Lyra and Bon Bon thank Pinkie and Songbird for their help in closing the case, and they wipe their memories to maintain S.M.I.L.E.'s secrets. Without any memory of the Pondora Box incident, Pinkie and Songbird rejoin the post-awards reception party. Quotes :Cheese Sandwich: Are you ready to rock, Roquefort? :Pinkie Pie: You bet your Brie! :Ritzy Rose: Yuck, the star theme is so overdone It's like—we get it, we're stars. :Jewel Tone: They could have at least had it at the observatory or something. Perhaps a 'Nightmare Moon' theme would have been a bit more original than this tired shtick. :Ritzy Rose: I wish I'' were exiled to the moon right now with how awful this party is! :'Songbird Serenade': Is she... is she... ''swinging from the chandelier? :Pinkie Pie: Whoa. Are you serious?! You—Songbird Serenade—want me—a totally average, notprofessional-dancer party pony—to perform with you, the biggest pop star in Equestria since Countess Coloratura, in the Glammy performance that could win you the most prestigious honor of your entire career?! :Songbird Serenade: Every year, the Glammys are the same—the same old ponies, the same parties, and the same boring over-the-top performances. If I'm going to be a part of it, I refuse to maintain the status quo! :Jazz Hoof: I just can't even. :Pinkie Pie: You can't even what? :Jazz Hoof: You know... I can't even! :Daisy Chain: Somepony moved my cow! :Pinkie Pie: I think what you meant to say is that somepony mooooooooved it. :Jazz Hoof: We obviously need to ramp up security around here because this isn't going to— :Pinkie Pie: Cut the mustard? Toot the flugelhorn? Burp the baby? :Jazz Hoof: All of the above. :Songbird Serenade: Somepony's plotting to ruin the Glammys with a stolen monster trapped in a box? :Pinkie Pie: Yep. Pretty much. :Photo Finish: Eez definitely going to bee Songbird Serenade to win Pop Pony! She 'az very nice voice and bold styles! :Hoity Toity: Personally, I've got my bits on Feather Bangs. The fillies just adore him. And they have major influence. Never underestimate the fillies. :Dandy Grandeur: I don't care who wins, as long as what they're wearing is fabulous. You know? :Pinkie Pie: Tell us, Crownpiece, who fired your brother—SVENGALLOP?! :Crownpiece: I'm so sorry I put you through all of this. :Songbird Serenade: What you did was wrong. But in the wise words of my friend Rara: 'You are just a pony, and you make mistakes from time to time.' Category:Featured articles